Greater New Orleans

Testimony in federal court Thursday revealed that Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Sheriff Marlin Gusman remain far apart on what they believe is needed to implement a federal consent decree to meet minimal constitutional standards at a jail notorious for high rates of rape, assault and death.
(The Times-Picayune archive)

"Twenty-three-hour lockdown, mayhem, absence of staff to supervise what's going on -- it's the quintessential definition, the English definition of mayhem," said Susan McCampbell, the lead monitor tasked with reporting to a federal judge on the state of the jail.

McCampbell's team of monitors also believe the jail urgently needs 151 additional employees to improve conditions, at a cost of at least $2.7 million for 2014 alone.

The figure comes as Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Sheriff Marlin Gusman remain far apart on what each side said is needed to implement a federal consent decree to meet minimal constitutional standards at a jail notorious for high rates of rape, assault and death.

Gusman's office wants as many as 684 more employees than the 471 now in the jail. There was no cost estimate provided for that many extra workers. Landrieu's administration says the sheriff only needs 135 more employees, and that Gusman already has enough money for them in his budget if he reduces other costs by removing 350 state inmates, consolidating some services with the mayor's office and bidding out contracts.

U.S. District Judge Lance Africk is overseeing the implementation of the decree, and held Thursday's hearing as he tries to determine what measures he will order and how much money the jail will need to improve conditions. It was unclear Thursday when he may rule on those issues. Africk has set another hearing for April 21 to decide what portion of the costs the sheriff and the city will each pay, though he said he's still hoping they will reach an out-of-court agreement before that.

The federal monitors said the jail also needs $6.8 million in contracts such as medical and mental-health services. To fund those changes, the U.S. Department of Justice and inmate advocates have requested the judge order at least $10 million be placed in escrow to ensure funding for the overhaul.

McCampbell, who has also monitored jail reforms in Florida and New Jersey, spent four hours on the stand detailing the basis for her cost estimates and describing the results of her seven trips to the Orleans jail.

"I don't see much progress and the reason I don't see it is the sheriff's reference to not having sustainable funding to do the things that need to be done," McCampbell said.

Among the most urgent position to fill, she said, are a coordinator and three technicians to oversee classification of inmates to try to separate potential predators from vulnerable inmates. She said the Sheriff's Office desperately needs a recruitment plan and more human-resources staff than the two people currently screening applications. She also said staff continue to ignore inmate requests for medical attention and their medications.

Harry Rosenberg, a private attorney representing the Landrieu administration, argued that Gusman has not made genuine efforts to improve the jail, and has been largely apathetic, as evidenced by his and his top aides' absence from the court hearing Thursday.

"The sheriff signed the consent decree and that's been it," Rosenberg said. He lated added: "Giving more money is just not the answer until accountability and responsibility is demonstrated by the sheriff."

Gusman's attorney said the sheriff ran into problems with hiring the necessary deputies, but has also taken positive steps such as hiring an experienced corrections administrator. "The sheriff has no intention of bankrupting the city," Blake Arcuri told the judge, adding that he expected funding negotiations with the mayor slated for next week would be fruitful.

The Justice Department and inmate advocates emphasized urgency. "People continue to get seriously hurt and die in that jail," said Katie Schwartzmann, co-director of the MacArthur Center, which represents inmates.

Africk grew annoyed at moments throughout the day, as attorneys for Landrieu and Gusman bickered over who was to blame for the lack of progress. The judge grilled Landrieu's chief administrative officer, Andy Kopplin, over the city's ambitious inmate-reduction plan.

The sheriff's attorneys and the judge disputed the feasibility of the city's plan to transfer 350 state inmates who have already been sentenced. Rosenberg called to the stand Louisiana Secretary of Public Safety James LeBlanc, who testified that there are no legal barriers to transferring the jail's 500 state-sentenced inmates to the custody of the state Department of Corrections. However, he said, the parish would be responsible for transporting them back to New Orleans for court appearances. LeBlanc also said there are other logistical and security concerns.

Africk said he was frustrated by the state's system of governance, in which the mayor pays for the jail but has no authority over the independently-elected sheriff's management of it.

"This is an odd bird," Africk said. "It can cause difficulties because of the way it's set up. I can't change that."

"Describing it as odd is probably the understatement of the century," replied Rosenberg, who has been representing mayoral administrations in litigation over conditions at Orleans Parish Prison for decades.